The Color Blue
by anniewhovian
Summary: This is a John/Dave collaborative AU where they can't see anything the color of their soulmate's eyes until they meet their soulmate. Background pairings include Rose/Kanaya and Dirk/Jake. Make sure to check out John's P.O.V. at /u/6912488/
1. Chapter 1

Your name is Dave Strider and for your entire life you haven't been able to see the color blue.

No matter how hard you try, no matter how many different shades of blue your Bro pointed out to you, you just couldn't see it. Of course, in a world where no one can see the color of their soulmate's eyes, it wasn't uncommon. It annoyed the shit out of you, though. Blue is such a common eye color, anyone you meet could be your soulmate. But no, of course only one person you meet who has blue eyes could be your soulmate. And you haven't met them yet.

"Dave, we have to go!" Rose yells at you. Oh yeah, you had zoned out for a minute. You gave yourself a quick rundown. Favorite converse? Check. Jeans? Check. Favorite hoodie? Check. Shades? Check. All ready to go. You grab your backpack and head down the stairs, dodging your Bro as he tries to throw one of his weird-ass puppets at you. You learned to avoid those years ago. Rose is standing near the door waiting for you.

"You take longer than I do, and I wear makeup," She says, smirking at you. You ignore her and take your keys out of her hand.

"Rose, can we have a feelings jam real quick?" You say while you unlock your car. It's not a shitty car, but it's definitely nothing fancy. A bright red truck with two front seats, a space in the middle of the front that could serve as cup holders or another seat, and three back seats.

"Well, that's sudden, but of course. Feeling jams are what I specialize in, after all," She looks at you a little worriedly.

"What was it like, meeting Kanaya, seeing green for the first time?"

"Oh, that's what this is about. Well, seeing green for the first time was very startling, to say the least. Trees, the grass, bushes, so much green! If Kanaya hadn't been there, I probably would have fainted! And to think she had never seen purple before. Of course we were both taken away by the new colors, and I'm sure if the bell hadn't rang we probably would've stared at each other's eyes for an hour at least."

"Thanks, Rose. that totally helps," You say dryly. As you pull into your usual spot.

"I'm sorry Dave, it's hard to explain. You'll see, eventually." Rose replies sympathetically as she hops out of the car. You follow her into the school after locking the truck; sharing the same homeroom with your sister-like friend can be a real pain in the ass sometimes. It just gives her the chance to try to continue your feelings jam, which to you was over the moment you had stepped out of the truck.

You spend the period ignoring Rose and doodling in your notebook. Nothing too special, just some more Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff. Not like your notebook wasn't already full of them. Right before the bell rings you sign your customary signature and add the url to your blog and your pesterchum. That way if you ever lost the notebook it could be easily returned.

As you dart out of the classroom and away from Rose your eyes wander the crowd of teens as they make their way to their classes. You find yourself browsing the eyes of everyone, trying to find anything that could be the color you've pondered over your entire sixteen years of life. Blue.

You've been told it's the color of the sky. All the sky has ever looked to you is a dull grey. Your Bro had even once brought you at least 50 different paint swatches. He had told you they were all blue, but you told him that even though you can't see blue you weren't blind, it was obvious he was trying to bullshit you at least a little. At that point he did fess up to a couple of them being gray swatches, but he did truly pick up some blue swatches. You never told anyone, but you took some of those blue swatches and hung them up in your closet. no matter how many times you stared at them, even with your shades off, all that they looked was grey.

As you come out of your blue daze, you decide that what you need at the moment is some fresh air. You quickly make your way unseen to the front doors and step out. You hurry through the bushes to your favorite spot at this hellhole of a school. It's a giant weeping willow, hidden from the rest of the world. You climb up a couple branches and stare up at the grey sky, wondering how in the world would you _ever_ find your soulmate?

 **A/N: Hi! Thank you for reading! This is a collaborative story with my friend, who is writing from John's P.O.V. These go hand in hand so make sure to check it out at u/6912488/ or just search coldgardenwhispers.**

 **Ciao for Now!**

 **~Annie Whovian**


	2. Chapter 2

You awake to a falling sensation. _That's str-_ *thump*

"OW!" You yelp as you hit the ground.

"What the hell?" You brush yourself off as you rise to your feet and try to get your bearings. You remember being pissed because you can't see blue and you remember ditching school to the weeping willow, but you definitely _don't_ remember falling asleep. You think it must have happened while you were staring at the sky, but it doesn't matter.

You dig your phone out of your pocket to see it reads 1:30 P.M. You sigh. There's no reason to go back in now, you think. School's already almost over. You decide to drive over your Bro's music shop. Working there always helps take your mind of things, and you know Dirk isn't going to question you being there too early. He already knows that you are frustrated about the blue thing. He didn't even meet Jake until he was 20 and Jake was 18.

You head to your truck and get in, knowing Rose will get a ride with Kanaya. You start up and drive away. If anyone sees you they'd think you're heading home sick. Which you kind of are. You quickly reach your brother's music shop. It used to be a prank store, before they had to move. Now your brother owns it, along with Jake. It's been pretty successful so far.

You step inside the door as the it chimes announcing your arrival.

"Yo, Bro, I'm here early!" You yell and fetch your uniform vest. You head over to where you can see Dirk standing. As you get closer you notice a short dark haired male. He's wearing a gray jacket and a white shirt with slightly baggy jeans and Converse. Although he's not looking at you, you can see he's wearing large square eyeglasses. As he turns toward you, you find yourself freezing. He has stunning eyes a color you've never seen before. While you stare you notice his jacket start to turn the same color as his eyes.

You try to process what's happening, and your Bro turns to see what's keeping you. You can see the realization dawn on him and he reaches out to take off your glasses. You couldn't even stop him if you wanted to as you are frozen to the spot in shock. As he reveals your eyes the short guy seems very weirded out at what's going on. Before you could react, he dropped out of your line of sight. You hear your Bro yell something before it actually registers in your brain.

"JAKE! NEED SOME HELP OUT HERE! I THINK WE'VE GOT A DEAD KID OUT HERE!"

 **A/N: Hi! Thank you for reading! This is a collaborative story with my friend, who is writing from John's P.O.V. These go hand in hand so make sure to check it out at u/6912488/ or just search coldgardenwhispers.**

 **Ciao for Now!**

 **~Annie Whovian**


	3. Chapter 3

All you can do is walk along as your brother gently places a hand on your shoulder to steer you to the car. After Jake saw the kid, who you now know is named John, passed out it was a flurry of making sure he wasn't hurt, and oh no his glasses broke, and we better get him to Jake's house so he doesn't wake up and immediately pass out again. Time seemed slow and unmoving as you were slowly driven to Jake's house. You had to leave your truck behind as there were only two capable drivers at the moment. Once you arrived Dirk had to lead you into the house and onto a chair quickly so that you didn't have anymore of a mental breakdown from looking at the sky.

* * *

You had been sitting on the chair for at least (as you were told later) 15 minutes before you came completely back to your senses. The John kid was still passed out, but at least he wasn't dead. You knew better than to try to stand up without leaning on something because your legs felt like jelly just sitting there. You noticed that there was a glass of something yellow sitting on the table next to you. you took a moment to hope that it was apple juice and _only_ apple juice before you chugged it.

"Yo, anyone here?" You say, unsure of where Jake and Dirk were. You didn't want to go exploring in a house that you'd never been to before. Not yet, anyway.

"Hey little bro. How you feeling?" You hear Dirk say from behind you. As you turn around you can see him coming up the stairs that missed your notice in your daze earlier. You can see Jake not far behind and wonder what they were doing, but quickly find out as your elder brother continues speaking.

"We were playing some Left 4 Dead as we waited for you to come to. I would have said wake up, but that's John's job at the moment." Jake nods in agreement as he checks on the John kid. You can't believe that he passed out. You mean, yeah, seeing all the blue was startling but it definitely wasn't pass out worthy. The kid must be faint of heart, you think.

"So. What's it like seeing the color blue for the first time?" Jake questions you. You see Dirk give him a look but you respond anyway.

"Can…" You have to take a minute to find your voice, "Can someone show me how to get to the backyard?" You question, wanting very badly to see the sky. Dirk quickly helps you to the back door and Jake follows, eager to see your reaction. As you step out you realize you don't have your shades on. At the moment, you don't even want them. You slowly look up, almost scared to see what it looks like. You didn't even look earlier, not that it would have registered.

"It's… I…" You find yourself unable to speak as you see the beautiful color.

"Yep. That's blue." You look over at Dirk, but instead of looking up he's staring at the ground. It takes you a moment to remember that for 20 years your Bro had never seen green. Until he met Jake. You switch your gaze to Jake and notice he's staring at Dirk. That's when you remember that Jake had also never seen orange. Your Bro must feel everyone's eyes on him as he quickly looks at you. Before anyone could say anything, though, you all hear a loud crash and a… yelp? You think it was a yelp. Jake runs into the house and you and Dirk follow as you hear Jake exclaim something.

"Gadzooks! Are you alright?"

"Yeah," You hear the John kid say as he raises his hand to give a thumbs up. You raise an eyebrow and smirk.

"That will be 8,000 Yen," As you prepare to smack your older brother for his stupid reference, you're surprised to hear Jake's voice.

"Kiss Kiss fall in love," Jake laughs. You turn your attention back to John, who seems very dazed and confused. He reaches for his glasses and puts them on. You see him blink a few times and turn toward the three of you. When his eyes find you he gives some sort of strangled noise and quickly looks away. You try not to take it too harshly but damn, you don't look that bad do you?

"Can't get enough of me, huh?" You try some irony to lighten the situation. You turn your attention to Jake again.

"John? Is something the matter?" He says before he walks over to John and tilts his face up. You can't see much from where you're standing, but you see the John kid look away again.

"Just slowly look and you'll see that it won't pop up again," Jake says, and as John looks at you it dawns on you that he must be talking about the color red. You see his eyes widen and his mouth pop open, and you try to resist the urge to say something stupid.

"It… it's… red," He says. You smirk again. Looks like John took the initiative to say something stupid so you didn't have to, you think.

"Well, you're not wrong," You reply. John seems to be very confused and stands there for a moment before taking off his glasses and looking at them for a moment before he puts them back on. You wonder what's going through his head before he speaks again.

"This... you… he," He runs a hand through his hair before putting his thoughts together and turning to Jake.

"Am I gay?"

 **A/N: Hi! Thank you for reading! This is a collaborative story with my friend, who is writing from John's P.O.V. These go hand in hand so make sure to check it out at u/6912488/ or just search coldgardenwhispers.**

 **Ciao for Now!**

 **~Annie Whovian**


	4. Chapter 4

You feel your jaw drop open and quickly close it. You turn to look at your bro and see he's just as surprised as you are. Before you can say or do anything, you hear Jake start to laugh. It started out sort of unbelieving and quickly turned into full blown laughter. Surprising yourself, you let out a few chuckles before also collapsing into laughter. Even Dirk succumbs to it as you all take in what John said. Your laughter quickly comes to a halt as you hear a door slam. Then you hear a voice.

"Um, guys, what's going on? I was trying to study but then I hear all this laughter and then a door slam and just, what's going on?" You turn to see Jade, Jake's younger sister, standing at the base of the stairs.

"Jade! Well… Johnfoundhissoulmatebuthedidn'tknowitwasgoingtobeaguysohedidn'tknowhewasgayandwesortoflaughedathimsoheranoff-"

"Jake. Slow down. John ran off?" She asked, clearly confused. You see Jake nod before Jade takes off running. You assume she's going after John. You turn to Jake and your bro to see that Dirk is taking his keys out of his pocket. You follow as they head to the car.

"Dave, John is not used to same-sex couples. I don't think he's ever even seen Jake and I together. Jake's going to go after them so he can take them home when this all cools down. We're going back to the shop to get your truck and then we're going home. John needs time to process this,"You want to object, but you realize you wouldn't mind time to process it as well. You get out when you reach the store and hop in your own truck, following Dirk back to your house. You head up to your room, and collapse at your desk. What you really needed at the moment was a distraction. You decide to drop some sick beats, but after at least 30 minutes of trying all that happened was you sitting there looking stupid. You knew exactly what you needed. Or should you say, _who_.

"ROSE! I NEED HELP!" You call as you bang on her door. You know that nothing amuses her more than you saying you need her help.

"What is it, Dave?"

"I need a feelings jam. Now," You stride into her room and sit on one of the many beanbags she has. Two of them actually serve as needle holders for her many knitting projects. You have to be really careful where you step or you'd end up impaled by one, and that would _not_ be ironic.

"Is this still about not finding your soulmate? Because I can assure you that-"

"Rose. I found him." you cut her off.

"Really? oh that's wonderful! See, I told you that you would. it only takes a little time, and patience, and-"

"ROSE. He ran away from me. He didn't expect me to be a guy," You look down at the floor as you finally realize what all had happened.

"Oh, Dave. I'm sorry! I'm sure it was just a surprise to him and-"

"Yeah. I'm sure it was a real big surprise. It's not something to run away over! I mean, yeah, I'm a dude, but I'm a nice guy, right? Yeah, I'm ironic as fuck but there's no reason to run from me! I'm not a beast like in Beauty and the Beast but even then he still got her to love 'im and-" By now you had started pacing a small patch of her floor.

"Dave, your Texas is showing. You're also rambling. Calm down. Sit back down. Think this through," Rose calmly tells you. You hadn't even noticed that you had let your accent slip through but you did get kind of upset. Over the years you've learned to keep your accent under control but it tended to slip through if you got upset. You sat back down as you tried to get your thoughts back under control.

"Okay. Now, tell me, what's his name?"

'His… name?" You had to think for a moment before finding the answer in your cluttered thoughts.

"Oh yeah! His name's John. I don't know his last name, though…." You say as you realize that all you know about your so-called "soulmate" is that he's dorky looking and his first name. Great.

"John? You couldn't mean John Egbert, could you?"

'Well gosh golly Rose, I don't know, I literally just said that I don't know his last time, how could I possibly know if it's Egbert or Squarepants!" You sigh and throw your hands up in exasperation. GodDAMNit Rose! You literally _JUSt_ said that you didn't know his last name. You look at her to see her smirking at you but at the moment you don't care. Before anyone can say anything more you hear her Pesterchum ding.

"Excuse me, Dave, but I must respond to this," She gets up and heads over to her laptop. You follow and peer over her shoulder. She doesn't stop you, but she does give you a little look.

-ectoBiologist[EB] has begun pestering tentacleTherapist[TT]-

EB: hey.

TT: Hello, John.

"John? Is that John Egbert?" you question Rose. She nods before replying again.

EB: do you have time for a chat?

TT: Of course.

EB: they took down the prank shop and replaced it with a music store.

TT: I'm sorry to hear that, John.

EB: it's not fair though. that was the only one in town and it's not there anymore.

TT: Are you sure there aren't any nearby?

EB: very sure.

TT: What is the name of the store?

EB: alterniate, i think.

"Hey! That's Dirk's shop!" You say as you read.

"It used to be a joke shop?"

TT: That's my friend's music store.

EB: well your friend took away my joy.

TT: John you are overreacting. At least a little.

EB: of course you're on their side.

TT: I am on nobody's side John. I had simply been stating a fact.

EB: the facts suck then.

TT: John calm down. There is no reason to be annoyed.

EB: there are plenty of reasons!

TT: And what would those reasons be?

EB: first it was the prank store. then it was some guy who is supposedly my soulmate and he has these red eyes, which are pretty cool, but when i looked at his eyes red burst into existence all around me and i think i passed out because i woke up at jake's house. then when it finally dawned on me that he was supposedly my soulmate and i asked if i was gay he laughed at me just like dorito glasses and jake and how was i supposed to react? i'm sure they all think i'm overreacting but i'm not used to this shit! i was nervous and confused! and they just laughed!

"Woah, woah, WOAH. Hold up. Red eyes, passed out, Jake's house! He really is the John I met earlier. He thinks my eyes are cool?" You would blush, but you're a Strider. Striders don't blush. Okay, maybe you blushed a little.

"I told you so. Now shoosh, he's typing again."

TT: Oh my, John. That seems to be quite a lot to be upset about.

EB: jade had to come find me. happy she did though, i was about to cry.

TT: Oh John.

EB: how am i supposed to like my 'soulmate' if they laugh when i'm confused?

"I didn't know he was confused! Or, at least, I didn't realize. Oh man, Rose, what am I going to do?".

TT: They probably hadn't known that you were confused John.

EB: it doesn't matter because slightly less ridiculous glasses still laughed.

"SLIGHTLY LESS. COME ON. DIRK'S ARE LITERALLY POINTY. MINE ARE NORMAL!" Rose shooshes you again before responding.

TT: John, calm down.

EB: well excuse me for being upset at something that i am self-conscious about! i don't even know if i want a soulmate to begin with. I don't even know the guy's name or anything?

TT: John, I think you are overreacting. You should give him a chance to redeem himself for laughing at you.

EB: i just told you i didn't know know his name rose!

TT: He's right behind me. Why don't you talk to him?

"ROSE!"

EB: rose!

"Well, you need to talk to him! it's obvious that he was upset and that you were both confused. Now, kiss and make up."

"ROSE!" You shout again. you literally just met the kid, not even met him. So what if you're soulmates you still need to get to know each other before anything like… like that!

"Fine. I'll talk to him. But can we do it in private or something? You know what, give him my chumhandle. That way you're not peeking over my shoulder."

"Dave that's the exact thing you were doing my entire talk with John."

"Well, I guess you could peek over my shoulder if you wanted to. But I don't want to talk to him in your purple text," You give in. a little. You both turn your attention back to the keyboard as it chimes.

EB: ;or; ^%*&((*^$(*UTDUTKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

You and Rose look at eachother for a moment in confusion before Rose types a reply

TT: John? Are you alright? That's quite a lot of K's in a row.

EB: i don't feel okay. i'm really confused as to why you didn't tell me slightly less ridiculous glasses was behind you. that makes me a little mad because i don't think he needed to read everything that i had said. also. i have feeling either you're going to lecture me on why he is a good person or whatever or you're going to force to talk to him.

TT: John, I would like you to talk to him. You two should talk things out and get to know each other so that you can kiss and make up.

"Rose would you PLEASE stop saying that," You sigh as she just shakes her head.

EB: rose! i don't think any kissing will be happening any time soon, just to let you know. for all you know i could be straight and this could just turn into us being friends or something.

TT: You two are soulmates. That means that you are not straight. It also means that intimate things will happen between you two, whether it be making out on the couch or having sex against the wall, intimate things will happen.

"OH MY GOD ROSE!" There's no way to stop the blush that rapidly shows itself on your face. you hadn't even thought about anything like that. you didn't _want_ to think about anything like that.

EB: i don't even want to know as to why you suggested sex against the wall. i'm sure that won't be happening either. for all i know he could be asexual. i could be asexual. i know nothing about myself at the moment. i have never been attracted to someone in any way shape or form and i am still not attracted to anyone.

"I… Oh. Well, if he feels that way…" You are cut off as Rose begins typing again.

TT: John, it is because you do not know him, but you will have an attraction and when the attraction comes you may be startled by it and you may not be. As far as I am concerned you two could meet up tomorrow and end up in a motel having sex. You need to stop trying to run away from the things that you are unsure of. Man up and have his dick in your ass at one point during your time together. Maybe it will be the other way around, but I know someone's dick will be in someone's ass.

You do not not saying anything. You just turn around and go lay on the floor. If Rose was going to continue on with talking about this you were going to ignore her. it seemed to be working until she started reading to you what he said and what she typed.

EB: rose please! at this moment i do not need details on how gay sex works. i do not need to know that i might have to put my dick in someone's ass. i do no need to know that his dick might be in my ass. at this moment no one's dick is going in anyone's ass!

You could not agree with him more.

TT: Shall I send you his pesterchum name so that you two can exchange saliva and bodily fluids?

You were going to punch Rose when this was over.

EB: i… rose i don't think i am going to be able to look him in the eyes after what you have said to me. i am a scarred little boy with no one to hold me as i read this horrific paragraph of purple text.

If you ever looked into Rose's eyes again it was going to be too soon. you had no idea she could be this dirty minded.

TT: So I take it that you would like his pesterchum name so that he may hold you in any way you so desire.

My God you were definitely going to punch her. If you didn't die of embarrassment first.

EB: rose please i am begging you.

TT: I see. You beg me for his pesterchum name. I am sure he will be delighted to see that you are so interested in him.

EB: rose i have no desire for anyone but, i know you won't stop this horrid onslaught until i actually ask for his name. so rose. will you please send me his pesterchum name so i can talk to him?

You wholeheartedly agreed. If that was anyway to get her to stop you'd sit down and send it to him yourself.

TT: Of course. I would do anything for you two love birds.

You don't know how you're ever going to begin talking to him. With all that Rose has said it seems like it's going to be near impossible to just have a normal fucking conversation. Wait, no fucking. Please. You've had enough dirty mindedness for a year. Two years, even.

"He's messaging you. You better go answer." She says. You say nothing as you leave the room, closing the door behind you. If you didn't know Rose had this side, you wonder if Kanaya knows. You damn sure aren't going to tell her. You sit down at your desk and open Pesterchum.

-ectoBiologist[EB] has begun pestering turntechGodhead[TG]-

EB: um...hey.

TG: yo

EB: please tell me you don't agree with her.

TG: fuck no

TG: hell fucking no

EB: that's good. i don't think she needed to go that far as to try and invent a sex when nothing has even happened in the first place.

TG: i never knew she could be that dirty minded

TG: and i live with her

EB: i just. i didn't think she would try so hard? but i do...i do have one question.

TG: what

EB: if we ever do get to the point where we have sex would i be the one on the bottom because...that's what rose had implied the first time.

TG: well fuck man i dont know

TG: could we wait to talk about that

TG: ive been talking to you for five fucking minutes

TG: how the fuck are we already on that subject

TG: wait its because of rose

TG: god damn it rose

TG: i dont need this shit

TG: first time talking to my soulmate and were talking about sex

EB: it was just a question! i was curios, honest. whenever she mentions this shit i wonder, okay? look i'm sorry that i even brought it up. we can talk about whatever the hell you want.

TG: no wait she mentioned this shit before

TG: how fucking dirty minded is she

EB: she occasionally asks if i have sexual interest or like if i have a fetish or something. and then sometimes she asks on whether i would prefer to be submissive or dominant.

TG: how much is occasionally

EB: um… she asked me a few days ago at school about it. and then she just… rose is a very special person when she wants to get information out of you.

TG: AT SCHOOL

TG: youre kidding me right

TG: no why would you kid someone you dont even know

TG: rose has a lot of explaining to do

TG: a fuckton of explaining to do

EB: i mean honestly it wasn't _that_ bad. you act like this is the worst thing in the world. yes it is embarrassing and fucking awkward as hell but that doesn't mean she needs to explain? i mean maybe she just wants people to be happy with what they do in their private time?

TG: she has never said anything like that to me before

TG: never

TG: you must be a very special person

EB: one time she was talking about you though. she hoped that we would end up together? but she said that i should do a skype call with you… not a normal skype call. more so of a one night stand thing. please save me.

TG: hang on for just a sec

"ROSE WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOUR FUCKING BRAIN MY FUCKING GOD!" You yell at her. You can hear her laughing.

"DAVE THAT'S NOT VERY NICE!" You hear your brother yell from somewhere in the house.

"SHE ASKS THAT POOR JOHN KID SEXUAL STUFF LIKE IF HE WOULD BE TOP OR BOTTOM AND OTHER FUCKED UP SHIT!"

"ROSE WHAT THE FUCK?" You hear him yell again. Rose's laughter just grows louder. You turn back to your computer as it dings again.

EB: lkwrbg; 938

EB: 4y09

EB: 37689

EB: 34t843ijofkdlekrhgreklghreklghklghlfkd6ghtrjkhejhgloue5869

EB: 376847984589473985743ijvlknglrekghlkJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJOOOOOOO

EB: mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

You start to get a little worried.

TG: you ok there dude

TG: probably not

TG: i mean why else would i get a fuckton of ms

EB: oh! sorry. my dad walked in and i sat on my desk which meant i also sat on my keyboard. so that's why you got the butt typed spam.

TG: right

EB: right. so rose said that we needed to make up.

TG: yeah

TG: sorry about laughing earlier

TG: i didnt….

TG: i guess i didnt realize how big of a shock this whole thing was to you

TG: so sorry

EB: i was probably overreacting anyways. if i had been around more same-sex couples i might not have reacted that way. i don't live with someone who's gay so i just never got used to the idea of it. and i also never had any sort of attraction to anyone so i never really thought about my soulmate being a male in the first place. and sorry for passing out on you earlier. is that something i should apologize for?

TG: nah

TG: that wasnt your fault

TG: and yeah that makes sense

TG: living with a gay older brother and a sister-like lesbian

TG: im pretty used to it

EB: that sounds really cool to live with people like that. though… i don't know if i should call it cool since you live with a very sexual rose. also. rose had mentioned us meeting up. but then she said for sexual things. i wanna know if you maybe wanna hang out? because it might make her stop pestering me about be social? and possibly make her stop with the soulmate sex talk?

TG: rose needs to calm her tits

TG: and yeah

TG: thatd be cool

EB: cool cool. i should go probably. i need to try and catch up on what i missed in school today.

TG: yeah

TG: I need to do that too

TG: bye

EB: bye

-ectoBiologist[EB] has ceased pestering turntechGodhead[TG]-

You lean back in your chair and sigh. The guy's starting to grow on you. That was one awkward chat though. You try not to dwell on it too much as you prepare to hop in the shower. Maybe the kid really is your soulmate after all.

 **A/N: Hi! Thank you for reading! This is a collaborative story with my friend, who is writing from John's P.O.V. These go hand in hand so make sure to check it out at u/6912488/ or just search coldgardenwhispers.**

 **Ciao for Now!**

 **~Annie Whovian**


	5. Chapter 5

You awake to the sound of beeping. You groggily open your eyes while your hand finds it's way to your alarm clock, pressing the snooze button. You reach for your phone and turn it on, closing your eyes as it's bright screen blinds you. You slowly open your eyes and wait for them to adjust. You notice a message from Rose, as well as a message from an unknown number. You click over to Rose's message. You sigh as you read what she sent you at 2 A.M.

"Here's John's number. I just sent him yours as well. 555-9463"

You quickly compare the number Rose sent you and the other number that had sent you a message. Yep. Same number. You click over to the other number and quickly change it to say "John" in your phone before looking at the message itself.

"Are you an interior decorator? Because when I saw you, the entire room became beautiful"

Well, leave it to Egbert to make a cheesy pick up line at 2 A.M. You decide to send an equally cheesy, if not more so, one back.

"No wonder the sky is grey today, all the blue is in your eyes."

You lay down your phone and walk over to your closet, taking off your shirt on the way. You open your closet and your eyes are immediately drawn to the paint swatches you have hung up. Every day since your Bro had brought you those swatches, you had looked at them and pondered what blue would look like.

Now you find yourself transfixed by all the different shades. You decide to take a couple of them with you to look at. It's totally not because you love the color or anything. Nope. It's ironic as fuck. You grab one of your shirts with a pixel record on it and a pair of jeans. You pull on your converse and head to the bathroom to fix your hair and brush your teeth. Good hygiene kids, it's important. You head downstairs, once again dodging your bro and grab some apple juice. Fixing yourself a bowl of Lucky charms, you sit down across from Roxy, who's already at the table. You shovel a bunch into your mouth and watch as Rose comes downstairs and fixes herself a glass of milk. She joins you at the table and Dirk sits down next to Roxy. Roxy is the first to speak.

"Dirk told me yesterday that while I was hanging out with Janey your were finding yourself a soulmate. How'd it go?" You swallow to answer.

"The John kid kind of passed out… and then he ran away…. but we talked last night so everything's good!" Your shitty summary of yesterday's events seems to be enough for the moment as Roxy nods and takes a drink of her milk.

"Anything new with you, Rose?" You shovel another bite of cereal in your mouth as Rose and Roxy talk and Dirk sips his orange juice. How he can stand the stuff you'll never know. When you finish you wash up and say goodbye as Rose follows you out to the car. Time seems to fly and before you know it it's lunch time.

You sit at your usual table and chat with Rose and Terezi and smirk at kanaya's interjections. You discovered as soon as you sat down that Rose had already told Kanaya about yesterday. You had thought that she would tell Kanaya but how Terezi found out none of you knew. All she said was that she had her ways. You decided not to question it. Instead, you spend your time scanning the lunchroom to see if you can spot John. You're interrupted by your phone buzzing. You take it out to see a message from John.

"Dave? What the hell is with the pick-up line? I don't… why are you even sending me these in the morning anyways? I know we're supposed to be soul mates and all but pick-up lines? Really?"

You quickly respond back.

"You sent one first dude."

You shove some food into your mouth while waiting for a reply. You catch Terezi trying to read over your shoulder and quickly shove your phone back in your pocket.

"Ooo what is it Dave? Texting John? Come on, let me see! I won't tell!" She smiles at you.

"Terezi, I'm not letting you see my texts with John. It's none of your damn business," You tell her.

"Dave you should not be texting or have your phone out at all. A teacher will catch you and we'll all be in trouble," Kanaya reprimands you. You prepare to reply but your phone buzzes again, causing you to take it back out to read what John said.

"I sent no such thing! I am not a person who flirts. I never have and I probably never will. So that statement seems entirely false, Dave."

You start typing a reply but Rose warns you of a teacher walking by so you slip your phone back in your pocket. You know it would be risky to try to reply so you resume your search for John and spot him near the back of the lunchroom with Jade, Karkat, and Vriska. You wait for his eyes to spot you. He finally sees you and you try to send him silent signals to come over to your table. He doesn't quite seem to get the message. You sigh and turn back to your friends.

"I'm moving to John's table. You can come with if you want," Rose and Kanaya turn to you in surprise, but Terezi just snickers. you ignore her and grab your tray, heading over to where John is. As you get closer you notice their table is smaller than you though, so you sit your tray down on their table and ask a teacher if it would be alright if you move an empty table and connect the two. the teacher nods so you do just that. When you're finally done you plop down next to John. you look up and notice the whole table staring at you.

"Yo." John pokes you in the side and starts to talk.

"I did not send you a pick-up line. Or at least I dont even remember doing so." He takes out his phone and starts scrolling.

"I...sent you a pick-up line. At two in the morning." He pokes you in the cheek and you stare at him incredulously.

"Well it looks like I was wrong, slightly less ridiculous glasses."

"Hey! Dirk's are anime shades. Mine are completely normal." You retort. That's when you notice no one has said a word except for you and John. They're all just staring at you. You wonder if you have food on your face or something else stupid like that.

"John?" Jade says. you wonder what's wrong.

"Hm?" John replies.

"Why's Dave here?" You realize he didn't tell anyone.

"Oh um...that's because..he's uh…" You see John look away and realize you're going to have to say something.

"Egbert, you really didn't tell anyone?" He just whines and raises his legs onto his chair, covering his face. He whines again.

"I'm sorry…" he says and you sigh.

"What Egbert appears not to have told you is that I'm his soulmate," You see Jade's eyes widen and Karkat open his mouth but before anyone could say anything Kanaya, Rose, and Terezi have appeared next to you. You turn towards them and next thing you know John is holding your arm so tightly it's cutting off circulation. Vriska is laughing and you glare at her before speaking.

'Yo, Egbert, could ya let go? You're grip is killing my arm," You give your arm a little shake. He lets go and hits his head, but just curls back up and hides himself. This kid is really starting to worry you.

"Vriska! that was very rude! John, are you alright? That looks like it hurt!" Jade exclaims. You all wait for John to reply, move, do _something_. You notice his shoulders jerk and look closer to discover dark spots on his jeans. _He's crying_. You don't know what to do. How would you comfort him? Should you tell Jade? You should probably tell Jade. But how? If you said it out loud John would probably freak out more. you try to get her attention. When she looks at you you point at John and mimic tears running down your face.

She gets the message better than Egbert did earlier. You see her start to open her mouth but you give a quick shake of her head so she knows to change the topic.

"So, Dave, how did you and John meet?" She questions you. you notice John raise his head and you let him speak.

"At the music shop that replaced the prank store," His eyes are red but you don't say anything and hope that no one else does either. His glasses are missing so you search the floor around you and pick them up, handing them to him. He gives you a silent nod of thanks and puts them on.

"What was it like seeing the colors for the first time?" Jade questions you both.

"Blue is a very nice color. The sky has never looked more blue," You smirk. John snorts and you're happy to hear he's feeling better.

"Dave it was never blue," John says. He then replies to Jade's question.

"It's a very explosive color. Sensory overload and then noom. You get to be passed out for a few hours. And since it didn't fully come into view the first time. It happens again. And you might pass out again but who cares. It's a pretty cool color." You're thankful John didn't say it was red. You'd rather tell them what color your eyes are yourself.

"John, you didn't mention the color. What color is it that you can see now?" John looks at you, and you speak.

"Red. It's red," Jade looks surprised as she realizes what that means.

"Your eyes are red? Really? Can we see?" You think it over before deciding to go ahead and show them. If they're John's friends, you can trust them, right? You certainly hope so anyway. You remove your shades and look at Jade and Karkat and Vriska. You return to looking at John and notice he's intently staring into your eyes. You return the stare until he looks away and then you put your shades back on.

"John your boyfriend has red eyes." Vriska says. You try not to be offended by it but you knew something like this was going to happen.

"And my ass is white. So what?" John says, trying to stick up for you. You almost smile. You hear Jade and Rose both snort. Then you're surprised by a voice. A crabby voice.

"Vriska fuck off." Karkat says, stuffing some food into his mouth. Your own tray has laid untouched since you moved over here. You're not very hungry anyway, but you see John eat some. You hear quiet talking and look over at Rose, knowing she must be talking about you and John. You ignore them. Terezi hasn't said a word since you moved over, but she speaks now.

"Those are all colors I can't see. Except white. I'm colorblind," you facepalm. Leave it to Terezi to point out the obvious. Well, obvious to you anyway.

"You're colorblind?" Jade asks. John looks at her as well. The rest of lunch passes without anymore crying, as does the rest of the day. You and John don't get the chance to talk that night but you all agree to keep sitting together at lunch.

As you lay down to sleep that night, you sigh in frustration. Feelings were starting to show themselves, feelings you weren't sure you wanted. The thing is, you _liked_ the feelings. You just weren't sure if John felt the same.

 **A/N: Hi! Thank you for reading! This is a collaborative story with my friend, who is writing from John's P.O.V. These go hand in hand so make sure to check it out at u/6912488/ or just search coldgardenwhispers.**

 **Ciao for Now!**

 **~Annie Whovian**


	6. Chapter 6

You quickly roll out of bed and slap your alarm clock to snooze before changing your clothes and climbing onto the roof. As you hoist yourself up you hear the squeak of your door. _Just in time._ You think, and peek back into your room only to quickly pull your head back up to avoid a face full of puppet-ass. You're glad that you didn't wake up covered in smuppets. You make a mental note to check for Lil Cal when you get back. Creepy fucker is probably hiding under your bed. You make your way to the ground and take off running.

You've been running almost every day you can ever since you can remember. It helps you stay fast, and helps relieve stress. Not that you've ever been very stressed. More so you just like running. You take out your earbuds and plug them into your phone, setting it to your favorite playlist. You focus on not tripping over anything and are very surprised to suddenly see black converse right in front of you. There's no stopping your momentum so you brace yourself for the impact but instead of rolling and sticking the landing you end up headbutting something sort of squishy.

You both hit the ground and you quickly scramble off of the other person as they wheeze. You look at the curled up form and quickly recognize who it is.

"John! John, shit, are you okay? What am I even saying of course you're not okay. Right, um, you hit your head, and I headbutted you, and SHIT is your head okay? Let me see goddamnit John you can't just come up out of nowhere and ok good you're heads not bleeding okay thats good um-"

"Dave, I'm fine." He says quietly and sits up. You want to check to make sure he's okay but you don't want to overstep your boundaries so you stay where you are.

"You sure you're alright dude? I did headbutt you and you did hit your head on the concrete…" You say carefully. He shakes his head no and you scoot a little closer..

"I'm going to check you for injuries, okay? Just tell me if something hurts."

"Dave. I was head butted in the stomach and I hit my head. They _hurt._ That's..." You watch as he slips his glasses off in defeat.

"Yeah...okay."

You slowly reach toward his head to check one more time to see if he's bleeding. Nope. You move on to poking his right shoulder a bit, then his left. He cringes and shifts his shoulder away from your touch

"So that hurts, huh? Well, your heads not bleeding, so thats good. Do you mind if I lift up your shirt to check for bruises? Don't wanna do anything out of your comfort zone, man."

He sets his glasses down before lifting up his hoodie. The area around his belly button has started to turn a deep purplish-blue. You let out a low whistle.

"Well thats gotta hurt. Sorry 'bout that dude. Okay. Anything else that hurts?"

He shifts before letting the hoodie drop and turns around. He lifts his hoodie up again to show the fastly forming bruises along his spine from where it curved as he arched. You lightly run your fingers over them before standing up. You help John up as well.

"Okay. Well. Let's get you over to my house, okay? You need some ice on those bruises, and Rose could probably help with whatever else you need. Do you need any help getting there or- Actually, you know what? Here." You sort of squat down and wait for him to get on.

He carefully got on after a moment and pressed his face lightly into your shoulder.

"Egbert you gotta lay off the cake dude!" You try to lighten the situation as you head back toward the house.

"I don't like cake, Dave. My dad makes me eat healthy though I sneak in chips sometimes..."

"Dude everyone eats chips. The only vegetables I get are the ones Roxy makes me eat. Even then I still sneak them into my napkin. Don't tell her that though."

"Am I heavy?"

"I was joking dude. Calm your tits. Anyway, I can carry you just fine, so you can't be too heavy."

He says nothing but you can feel him shrug slightly.

You're at your driveway by now, so you head over to the door and let John hop off.

"Honey, I'm home!" You call as you burst in the door, John trailing behind. Rose raises her eyebrows at you from the couch, and quickly places her bookmark in her book when she sees John.

"Oh, John, hello! I wasn't expecting you until later. Is everything alright?"

He simply shrugs and just lifts his shirt up to show the bruises on his stomach.

"Oh my. I'll go get the ice, then. May I ask what happened?" She says as she walks to the kitchen. You lead John to the couch and get him to sit down.

"I, um, kinda headbutted him. And he fell backwards and he hit his head. And also his left shoulder hurts for some reason." You rub the back of your neck and look down at the floor. Guilt is not a nice thing.

"Well, we have three ice packs. Anything else I need to know about?" Rose returns and hands John the ice packs

"His back is bruised too. I think that's it, though."

"I'll fetch another ice pack. in the meantime, why don't you to play some video games or something. Nothing that can hurt him more." She says as she walks away. You look at John.

"What do you want to play?"

"Russian roulette. Except I won't pass you the gun. I'll just pull the trigger until it's the last thing I hear." You're almost certain he can hear the alarm bells going off in your brain at what he said. You watch as he pulls his hood up and whines.

"Dave you fucking broke me."

"Dude are you sure you're okay? And I'm not talking about the bruises and the pains on your body. I mean inside. Does that makes sense?" You're not sure how to react but that seems to be a good start.

"I don't know. Am I supposed to be tired? All I want to do Is sleep for a thousand years."

"That sounds like you have a concussion."

"What sounds like a concussion?" You turn around at the sound of Rose's voice.

"John here wants to sleep for a thousands years. Isn't that a sign of a concussion? Or am I wrong. I could be wrong."

"He hit his head hard on the concrete, correct? It's very possible he could have a concussion. The only way to know for sure would be to take him to a doctor or hospital" Rose looks at him.

"Guys I don't have a concussion. I'm just tired. If I fall asleep wake me up. It's that simple. You act like I'm about to die." He pushes his hood off and pokes you in the neck. "I've dealt with this stuff before. I'm not confused. I don't have memory problems. I'm not dizzy. I don't feel sluggish and my reactions to stimulations aren't delayed. I don't have double or blurred vision. All I am is tired. If I fall asleep wake me up so you know I'm not in a fucking coma."

You and Rose look at each other before Rose leaves the room.  
"Alright dude. Do you want to play some Smash Bros or something? We've got Mario Kart too. What do you want to play? Or do you want to watch a movie or something?" You say as you look over the contents of the entertainment system.

"Oh! Dave! Me and Rose and Kanaya and Jade and Jake are having a movie night and we want you to join. We also want Dirk to join so..." He offered you a small smile. "Also it's happening here so..."

"Wait, it's happening here? No one told me that... "

"Well I was trying to tell you and you ran into me so you get told now."

"Oh. Sorry about that, again. Yeah. Sorry."

"Dave I'm going to make you shut up one way or another now stop saying sorry I already know it was an accident."

"Well yeah but I still headbutted you! So I'm sorry about that."

"David I swear to god I will kick you in the jaw if you say sorry again."

"David? Where did that come from?"

He removes the ice from his stomach and pops his knuckles before throwing it at you.

"It came from my fucking mouth, _David._ " You dodge the ice packs and flash step behind John. You watch his confusion before launching yourself over the couch and into his lap.

"Yo."

He squeaks and ends up pushing you off. You can see that his face is turning a deep red.

"What the fuck, Strider?!"

"What? Never seen someone flash step before? Or have you never had someone land in your lap?" You smirk at him.

"Neither. You just don't sit randomly in someone's lap. That's... that's like only something you do with someone you're dating or something. And the only time I sat in someone's lap is because it was a damn dare but you. You just." He pulled his hood up to hide his ever growing blush. You were starting to like tired Egbert.

"Oh yeah? Well i dare you to put your hood down, then."

He pulls it further over his face before sighing and roughly pushing it off, giving you a weak glare.

"Your turn, man." You smirk at him.

"Truth or dare?" He asks. You give it a little think over before responding.

"Dare."

"I dare you to take your shades off and keep them off." You glare at him and slowly remove them.

"Truth or dare, Egbert? Choose wisely."

"Dare." Oh you were going to have fun with this.

"I dare you to sit on my lap." Your smirk widened into a shit-eating grin.

"Fine. Get your ass on the couch." You stood up and sat on the couch.

He paused before setting his knees on either side of your legs and straddling you. He shifted backwards slightly so that your chests weren't touching and spread his legs slightly further.

"There. Truth or dare?"

"Dare. Bring it on Egbert. Bring. It. On." This was quickly turning into a one-up contest of dares and you weren't going to back down.

"I dare you to put your hands on my waist." He shrugged slightly as he spoke. You quickly moved your hands to his waist. This was easy.

"Truth or dare?" You say.

"Dare."

"Put your arms around my neck." If John wanted you to hold his waist he had to put his arms around your neck. Simple as that.

He moved his arms and placed them around your neck while talking.

"Truth or dare?"

"Dare, of course."

"I dare you to kiss me." He shifted slightly and tilted his head before smirking at you.

"Unless you're too chicken to do it."

"You did NOT just challenge a Strider to gay chicken." You smirk.

"I think I just did. And I'm not taking it back."

"Your call, dude." You say before tilting your head as well.

"My call?"

"Yes your call. You're going to regret it, too. No Strider has EVER backed down from a game of gay chicken."

"Gay chicken?"

"Yes, gay chicken. Don't tell me you've never heard of gay chicken. I mean, if you haven't, I guess I'll just have to show you."

"I guess you'll just have to show me." You smirk.

You lean forward and press your lips to his for a brief second. He flinches before following you as you lean back. His lip are soft against yours and you shift your hands slightly so that your thumbs are touching the skin beneath his hoodie. At first you want to hesitate because it might be out of his comfort zone but then his hands are in your hair and he's pulling you closer. John shifts in your lap and somehow ends up closer than before. His chest is pressed to yours. You shift your hands and let them move up his back, avoiding the bruises that reside there. He moves his hands so that one is resting at the base of your head and grips the hair there gently. His other hand rests on your cheek, thumb resting along the cheekbone.

"I have walked in at the wrong moment. I am sorry. I will leave now." You jump at the sound of Rose's voice and John is booted from your lap.

"Fuck, Rose, little warning next time?" You help John off the floor.

"It's not my fault you to were making out on the couch in a house where three other people live." She smirks back at you.

"GO AWAY ROSE!" You yell at her. Well, so much for a private first kiss. Whatever. It was still good. You'd never tell Rose that though.

 **A/N: Hi! Thank you for reading! This is a collaborative story with my friend, who is writing from John's P.O.V. These go hand in hand so make sure to check it out at u/6912488/ or just search coldgardenwhispers.**

 **Ciao for Now!**

 **~Annie Whovian**

P.S. Hope that wait was worth it. Also, we start school very soon so updates ared going to be a lot less frequent. Don't worry, we aren't abandoning the story or anything, it's just that we're not going to have a whole lot of time to write. Thank you so much for reading, though!


	7. Chapter 7

You turn back to John and see him laughing at you.

"Shut up, Egbert." You don't want to try to kiss him again now that Rose knows you two were making out.

"Let's just…. play some video games. How many times am I going to ask you what game you want to play before we actually play something, Egderp?" You ruffle his already extremely messy hair and walk back over to the entertainment system.

"What's with the stupid nickname?" He says while you rifle through the games and movies. You pick up a XBox controller and toss it to him before responding.

"I should be asking you, you're the one who called me 'David'."

"Well, I was mad so that's what you got called." You watch as he crosses his arms.

"Just pick a game, Dave." He drops his arms again and you sigh and turn back to the video games, and choose Left 4 Dead. You don't really like the game but it's got zombies and zombies are pretty fucking cool so.

"Hey, dude, is Left 4 Dead OK?" You turn to see him looking down towards his hands. You wait a second before asking again.

"You listening Egderp?" He flinches and looks toward you. Your mind races, trying to think of something to say, something to dissolve the tension that has settled over the room like a thick blanket. You finally choose to just look away, letting your bangs fall over your eyes. You realize you still don't have your shades on, and glance through your bangs to find them lying on the other side of the room. You sigh once again and decide to just keep hiding behind your hair. You're startled out of your thoughts as John is suddenly brushing your hair out of your face. You try to move away but he follows you and you suddenly find yourself wrapped in a hug. Before you can even try to do anything you find him leaning up and there's a sudden soft kiss on your lips and you try to lean into it but then he's gone and you start to wonder when you fell so hard.

"Let's play the game." It only takes you a second of thought before you find yourself stepping toward him and putting your hands on the side of his face to bring him toward your own and then your lips are on his and you couldn't want anything more than this. Just you and him and holy fuck you can't remember ever feeling this way. Ever feeling this attraction, this _love_ towards another human being before. He makes a little gasp and then you can feel him kissing back and you can feel yourself melting. You find yourself moving him backwards, pressing him against the wall. You drift your hands toward John's thighs and lift him. You hear him try to mumble something but you just kiss him harder, so locked into the moment. His legs slide around your waist and your hands are dangerously close to his ass before you realize what you're doing. You force yourself to pull away.

"Sorry." You mumble. You're entirely too aware of what just happened and how out of control you let yourself get. You're worried what he could be thinking when you hear him speak.

"Videogames?" You try to relax.

"Yeah…. Videogames."

A/N: HEY! GUESS WHO"S BACK?! Yep. we're here and ready to serve. Sorry for the hiatus, but it was kind of out of our control. We're definitely not going to let that happen again. Hope you enjoyed~

-AnnieWhovian


	8. Chapter 8

You feel John lean his head against your leg and you smirk. You see him close his eyes and you kind of wish you could do the same. You've seen Twilight at least 100 times by now. Rose tries to tell you she only watches it for ironic purposes, but you can tell that she actually likes it. When Kanaya fell in love with it as well, you figured it was probably about time you stopped spending so much time with your sister. No matter how much you tried to avoid their movie nights, you still somehow ended up being pulled onto the couch with them and memorizing every single line of the movie. Until John had started using you as a pillow, you had actually been entertaining yourself by mouthing along.

"Come on," you ruffle his hair. "No sleeping Egderp." He lets out a whine and shifts so that his head is once again leaning on your thigh.

"Oh golly. My bad," He mumbles tiredly. "Didn't mean to interrupt you mouthing all the lines."

"Didn't realize you'd seen me, or I would have been mumbling them in your ear." You smirk.

"Dave I'm on the floor and you're on the couch. That wouldn't work." He looks up to you. You lean down towards his ear.

"Are you sure?" You whisper. You can feel him shiver. Your smirk grows even larger. He reaches up and pokes your cheek.

"That's probably uncomfortable" You can hear his voice waver a bit and you have to hold back your laughter.

"Nah man. I could do this _all night_." You basically breath the last words into his ear. He hides his face against your thigh, and you can feel his breaths slow down.

"Come on dude. I'm not suffering through this alone." You let your voice whine a bit.

"Dave, can I use your bathroom?" You hear him say. He looks up at you and you raise an eyebrow at him.

"You seriously have to ask dude? It's upstairs, first door to the right." John stands up and you hear him stomping up the stairs. You turn your head back towards the screen and notice everyone staring at you.

"...What." You are genuinely confused as to why everyone has decided to place their sights on you.

"Rose told us what you two were doing earlier today…." Jade says. You may or may not have started blushing.

"Yeah…. wait what was he doing?" Jake asks. You see Dirk lean over and whisper to him. His face goes a bit blank for a second and then he's turned red and staring at you. You look away and your blush deepens.

"So… what did you tell them Rose?" You sincerely hope that maybe you're just wrong but…

"That you and John kissed. Thrice. Yes, David, I saw the second and third time." You want to curl up in a ball and die.

"I'll tell you this once. Just once. You better take care of John. If you don't, if you break his heart, you'll be hearing from me mister. And it won't be pretty.' You're pretty sure Jade started growling during her speech. Like, actually growling. You nod quickly. And a lot. You think you're head might fall off.

"Dave you can stop now." Kanaya quietly reassures you. You stop.

"Um… I'll go see what happened to John.." You mumble and quickly dart up the stairs. You can hear Rose giggling behind you. You also hear a yelp. It seemed to come from…. your room? You can see the light on as well. Who's in your room? You head towards it cautiously, ready to strife at anytime. You slowly peek in the door. You glance around the room and don't notice anything out of the ordinary. You slowly nudge your way in. As you walk in, however, you suddenly trip. You hear a loud clanging noise and your legs feel all wet. Looking toward your feet, you see a bucket. Er… trashcan?

"What the hell?" You glance up and see John, looking very bashful and…. frightened?

"Dude what the fuck?" He turns red.

"I didn't mean for you to trip. S-sorry." He sound like he's gonna cry. He grips the end of his shirt.

"Aw man no. Don't be like that. You just… surprised me. What were you trying to do anyway?" You shake the trashcan off and stand up. You head towards your dresser to grab a change of pants.

"A prank…" He mumbles as you rifle through the drawer.

"... A prank." You repeat as you grab a pair of sweatpants.

"You might want to turn around. Or not. I don't really care." You say as you start unbuttoning your jeans.

"I sh-should probably just go back downstairs. I-I can just… explain…." You turn towards him to see him edging towards the door.

"Dude. Calm down. It's okay. No hard feelings, alright? I'm sure it would have been hilarious if it worked out." You try to reassure him.

"I am perfectly calm." You watch as he turns back towards you.

"Of course dude. You don't have to leave you know. I mean, you can join them again if you want but why don't we just hang out in here? I can give you a little tour." You start lowering your jeans. He snorts.

"I'm fairly sure that I do not need one. I was in here for a few minutes meaning I was able to look around your room. Your doors are taller so I couldn't put the trash can on top...even if I wanted to damnit." You smirk as you steady yourself against the wall to begin pulling up your sweatpants.

"Well… Sorry... Striders are tall... I guess? It's kind of hard to apologize for something you've never even thought of as a problem before."

"Dammit, Dave. If you weren't tall it would be easy to pull pranks and kiss you." You walk over to him and look down at him. You never really noticed it before but.. yeah.. he was pretty short. You start laughing.

"How tall are you anyway?" You say between laughs.

"I'm…" he sighs, "5'3". Stop laughing at me dammit! Ugh. You seem to like my height anyways." _That's true_ , you think. "Easy to pick up…" you hear him mumble.

"Yes you are." You lean down and pick him up just because you can. He lets out a small squeak and starts struggling to get out of your grip, but you hold on tight.

"Dammit Dave!" He stops struggling and glares at you. "The hell man? Warning, please!" You snort.

"Nah man. Being suddenly picked up out of nowhere is better than knowing you're gonna be picked up. Besides, that means I can do this." You lean up a bit and kiss him. You can feel him kissing back, and it makes you feel, well, warm. A nice warm feeling, a very happy feeling. John pulls back for a moment and you catch your breath before kissing him again. You can feel him hum and you respond with a hum of your own. You feel him tangle his hands in your hair and pull you closer. He suddenly pulls away, though, and you almost whine in disappointment before he kisses the corner of your mouth.

"We should probably go back downstairs." John whines. You remember that there are like… five other people here and that they've probably noticed your absence by now.

"You can also put me down." He says.

"Oh yeah." You set him down. "Kind of forgot about that." He gives you a small kiss before picking up the trash can. You look around for a minute to make sure nothing seems out of place before leading the way out of the room. Gotta make sure Lil Cal's not peeping in your room again. Creepy fucker. You wait for John to leave the room before turning off the light and closing the door. You stand with John at the bathroom door.

"So. Wanna go down there?" You do not want to go down there. At all.

"Nope. Not at all. I would actually prefer to still be in your room."

"Believe me Egbert. I'm with you on that one. But I guess we have to. If not someone would probably eventually come to try to get us to go back downstairs. And that could turn out pretty badly."He nods slightly.

"Welp…" he sighs and you follow him as he walks down the stairs, and stand on the last step when he stops. You look up[ to see everyone staring at you. Shit.

"Um… what movie are we watching?" John says. Crap. Crap Crap Crap Crap Crap. Fuck. You are not prepared.

"It's called 'Close the door if you want some privacy or everyone will know you're smacking lips'. It's very amusing, actually." Dirk responds and you almost turn tail and bolt upstairs.

"So…. what was the purpose of the bucket?" Kanaya says and this time you do run upstairs. Or try to, anyway. You trip very quickly. Over a certain puppet. Could this day get any worse? You resign yourself to just laying there. This is your life now. Laying on the stairs for eternity. You are never moving again.

"John are you alright?! You're bleeding!" You hear Jade say and you decide that maybe you will move after all. You get up after a moment or two and turn John towards you to see blood smeared and running down his chin. You set your mouth in a thin line before using the edge of your shirt to wipe John's chin.

"I… S- Sorry." he says and reaches his hand towards his face. You grab the hand and lead him back upstairs to the bathroom.

"John, you didn't do anything wrong. Our friends and family are just assholes who don't know what crossing the line is." You say as you get the first aid kit out. You hand him a piece of gauze.

'Hold that against your lip to stop the bleeding. Keep your chin down." It'd be bad if he swallowed too much blood. You hop on the counter to keep him company while also keeping an eye on the wound. Goddammit Dirk. Goddammit Kanaya. Goddammit everyone. Why can't they just keep their mouths shut. You silently fume as you watch John wince in pain.

"It's not that bad, Dave." He says. He looks tired.

"It might not be that bad but it still wouldn't have happened if our friends weren't idiots who can't keep their damn mouths shut." You try to calm your voice so you don't scare John.

"I wanna go to bed." He says as he slides down to the floor. "I wish some parts of today never happened." You smile sympathetically.

'I know, man. I know. I'll drive you home. You want to go now?"

"I don't want to go home, Dave." He leans towards the sink before standing up.

"You don't have to, John. You can always stay here. I have a sleeping bag you could use if you wanted. Besides, you don't even have to go home right now. I was just making sure." You stand up next to him and begin cleaning his chin with a washrag.

"Okay…" You take that as a 'I really don't want to go home' and finish cleaning his chin. He pulls the gauze from his lip and you can see that, while its still rather red, it's not bleeding anymore and should heal in a few days.

"Come on then." You wait for him to leave the bathroom before turning off the light and shutting the door. You let him lead the way to your room and you shut the door behind you before heading to the closet for your sleeping bag and extra blankets. You set it up and toss a pillow on top. You head to your dresser for another pair of sweatpants.

"Would these be okay?" You ask as you toss them to him. He nods.

"Anything else you need?" He shakes his head after a short pause and you take off your shades to put them on your dresser.

"Good night, then. I'm going to lock the door just in case, but I don't think anyone's going to try and bother us." You walk over to the door to lock it, then walk back and climb into bed. You watch as John climbs inside the sleeping bag before turning off your lamp. You hoped tomorrow would be a better day, or at least have more good moments than today seemed to.

 **A/N: Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading once again! We're back in business, as you can see! We are also very angsty. Enjoy the angst. There's plenty more of it to come. Mwahahahaha.**

 **Ciao for Now!**

 **~AnnieWhovian**


	9. Chapter 9

You awake to a very loud, high-pitched noise. You groan and roll over while smashing your pillow over your head. You stay like that for a moment before remembering everything that had happened the previous night. You shoot up from under your pillow and look over to see John whimpering. When you hear the loud sound again you realize he's screaming and you bolt out of bed to shake him awake.

"John. JOHN. Dude. EGBERT." He jolts up and you have to jerk away to avoid a face full of John. You can see his face is wet and he tries to wipe it off. You can hear him sob and your heart starts to ache.

"John. John. I'm here. John. Look at me, John." You wrap your arms around him and stare at him until he looks at you. You can feel him trembling in your arms. He grips your shirt and presses his face into your shoulder. You begin to rub soothing circles on his back.

"Shhhhh…." You hold him as he starts to calm down. You don't know what made him feel this way but you know that you can at least help him calm down. His breathing slows and you can tell he's falling back asleep, but just before he's down for the count he jerks back awake. You figure he must have had a nightmare.

"Don't go…" he mumbles into your shoulder and holy shit you weren't even thinking of leaving but you sure as hell aren't going to now

"I'm not going anywhere." You lace your fingers through his hair on the back of his head and stay like that, trying to send all the comfort you can. He nuzzles into your shoulder slightly. His breathing finally slows down to the deep, even breathing that you recognize as sleeping and you start to relax your arms. You gently start to lean back, taking John with you, and lay him back on the sleeping bag. You fix the covers around you both and return to hugging him in case he wakes back up. It's only a moment before you find yourself drifting off as well.

You blink and wait for a moment for your mind to catch up. As you come out of your daze, you once again remember what had happened the previous day, and shift slightly to find yourself still wrapped around John. You don't want to move for fear of waking him up, so you just lay there and listen to his breathing. You feel him curl into you more. You wonder if he's waking up but you're not going to move away until he does. You freeze when you hear a jingling sound coming from the door. You sit up and stare at it as it jiggles. You see John sit up as well. Guess he wasn't asleep after all.

"Well… Good morning." John says with a laugh. You smile at him and run your hand through your hair.

"Good morning to you." Your voice sounds hoarse so you grab the water bottle you keep under the bed and take a sip.

"Want some?" You question him.

"Sure" he says, and you think for a moment that you could just transfer the water straight from your mouth to his but then he could get very weirded out and you just hand him the bottle instead. Weird thoughts Strider. Very weird. He thanks you and takes a swig.

"So…. want to grab something to eat?" You're really hungry.

"Can we just climb out the window?" You smirk as you stand up and grab your shades.

"Now you're getting it Johnny." You give him a quick kiss and pull yourself up onto the roof. You lean your head back in.

"Come on dude. What are you waiting for?" He flips you off before walking over and pulling himself up.

"Shut it Elizabeth." he says and you frown.

"Where'd that come from?" You ask.

"Hm? Oh Rose told me a few days ago." He says and shrugs. Dammit Rose.

"She told me to call you Elizabeth. I'm guessing it's your middle name."

"... It might be…." You are seriously going to kick Rose when you get back home later.

"Well, let's get food then, Lizzy." He grins and you try to reach out to punch him but he moves away and laughs.

"Fine then Johnny. Just follow my lead." You flash step to the corner of the house where you keep the ladder and climb down. It takes a moment before his butt comes into view and you have to admit that is one fine ass. You wiggle your toes as you wait and remember you have a couple spare pairs of shoes in your truck. You wait for him to finish climbing down before you speak again. You give him another kiss and smirk.

"Race you to my truck." and you're off. You know there's no way he's going to beat you and you laugh. You can hear him yell something but you don't know what. You reach your truck and grab a pair of your converse, putting them on and lacing them up before sitting down in the driver's seat to wait for him. You watch as he stops right before his feet touch the concrete.

"Dave I'm blind help." He says and you realize he doesn't have his glasses. Oops. Welp. You hop out and pick him up bridal style because you can. He yelps and wraps his arms around your neck and you smirk.

"This working for you babe?" You say as you start walking towards the car.

"I'm being carried by the sexiest blob ever. So yes, it's working for me." He laughs and you kiss him for the third time this morning.

"Thanks babe. Now come on. We've got a breakfast to go to." You set him in the truck's passenger seat. You head around do the driver's side and hop in, handing him a pair of shoes.

"Hope those fit." You say as you buckle up and start the truck. You watch as he struggles to put on the shoes.

"Jesus I seriously feel like I'm blind. Like holy hell all I need now is a service dog and it's official." You laugh and kiss him once more before pulling out of the driveway.

"Aww, now you're just making fun of blind people."

"Dave. I practically am blind. I'm barely allowed to drive legally because I'm classified as legally blind. Now shut up before I blindly punch you in the dick." He sounds slightly pissed and now you're sad because the fun mood is ruined. Dammit.

"Aw man. I was just joking John. I'm sorry." You sigh. Dammit. You look over at him for a second and see him shrug before you turn back to the road. You press the on button for the radio and "say Something" by A Great Big World is On. You quickly change it. No more sad needed in this car nope. You listen for a sec before realizing it's "Slipped Away" by Avril Lavigne. Godammit. You change it again. It's country. You turn the radio off and put in one of the discs lying on the dashboard. It takes a moment for the disc to be recognized and then you hear it. PonPonPon. Hell yes. You jam out to it as you drive. Eventually, it ends, and another song starts. You look over to John to see him chewing on his lip.

"Hey. dude stop. That's not healed yet and you're going to make it worse." You gently take his hand to make sure you have his attention. You look over again to see him still sucking at his lip.

"Dude. Seriously. Blood is not good for you. You are not a vampire." You start rubbing circles on his hand.

"But...it tastes good." You shake your head slightly.

"Maybe so. But it's still not good for you. Too much of it and you could throw up, you know."

"Dave. I feel like you're treating me like a child…" You sigh. Maybe you kind of are. But he's worrying you.

"...Sorry. I'm just kind of worried. I want it to heal right." You hear him whine.

"It'll heal fine." You decide to leave the conversation at that, mostly because you've reached the Denny's. You hop out and go to the passenger side to open the door for your blind… well… can you call him your boyfriend yet? You'll have to ask him later. You help him out of the car and lead him into the restaurant. Ahhh. The smell of bacon and syrup. You tell the seater person table for two, and she leads you to a booth in the corner. You seat John across from you, but join him for a second to help him decide what he wants. Actually, scratch that. You're just going to order something for the both of you to share.

"Welcome to Denny's! What can I get for you?" The server asks. You look up to see her winking at you. Great. Your server likes you and is being as bold as to wink at you right in front of your boyfriend.

" _We'll_ be having two waters and chocolate milks, along with the all you can eat pancakes and a side of bacon strips." That sounds good. And it should be enough for you both. She leaves and you relax muscles you didn't know you were straining.

"You okay there? You emphasized the 'we' pretty hard there." John says, and you turn to him.

"Yeah… I just… yeah. Hey. I've got something to ask you." You wait for him to respond.

"Ask away, Lizzy." He chuckles and you swear you're going to kill Rose. Anyway.

"Would it be alright if I started calling you my boyfriend?" You be as straightforward as possible. There really isn't any other way to put it, anyway.

"Hm? Well yeah. Don't really have to ask." He says. Oh. Okay. Well then.

"Just wanted to make sure, Johnny boy." You smirk.

"Okay no. I'll stop with the Elizabeth. Never call me Johnny." He lightly slaps your arm and you laugh.

"Alright, alright. I get it." You laugh a bit more and the waitress appears.

"Alright! Here are your drinks, your food will be out in a bit. In the meantime, how about I talk to you." She winks again and you feel a little bit sick and very annoyed. You can see as she crosses her arms over her chest. She seems to squeeze them together a bit. It's so obviously a ploy to make her boobs bigger that you almost want to laugh out loud.

"Your name must be Coca Cola, because you're so-da-licious." She says and you almost actually do laugh out loud.

"Did she honestly just say that?" John whispers to you. You turn towards him to whisper back.

"Yes. Yes she did. I'm going to laugh holy shit." You're grinning when you turn back to the waitress to see her glaring at John. Oh hell no.

"I would ask how old you are, but I know you can't count that high." She's still glaring and you can feel your mouth set itself into a very, _very_ thin line. She just crossed the line. Before you can say anything, however, you hear John speak.

"Okay look here. I don't know if you've found your soulmate or not. I really don't give a shit. But don't you dare try to pick up mine. And don't you dare insult me just because you think you fucking can." He says and you want to give him a high five. Holy crap you love your boyfriend. Holy crap you love that you can call him your boyfriend. You decide to just kiss him instead. You feel him gasp and you smile. You turn back to where the waitress was and see that she left. Good. Serves her right.

"She's gone." You say. He nods before grabbing your face and kissing your nose. You feel your face heat up slightly.

"So how'd you sleep?" He says, and you remember how he woke up crying last night.

"Fine. I'm more worried about how you slept." You lay your hand on top of his, once again rubbing circles into his hand with your thumb.

"Better when you were there." He says you feel all warm and fuzzy. You give his hand a little squeeze and pick up your water with your other hand. Always better to save the chocolate milk for the actual food. He leans his head on your shoulder and you smile. You both stay in a comfortable silence for a while.

"Hello! I'm sorry about our other waitress, she's….. Yeah. Anyway, here's your food, tell me when you need anything else, and enjoy!" A new waitress tells you. You nod and thank her as she sets your food down and walks away. You like her much more than the other one. John sits up and moves his hand away. You start cutting the pancakes and pouring syrup onto them. You hand him his fork.

"Dig in, dude." You say, picking up a piece of bacon and eating it. You eat in silence because food.

You take a final drink of your water before taking a look at the check. You grab the money needed out of your wallet, leaving a tip for the second waitress, the nice one. You wait for John to finish before standing up to take the money and check up to the cashier. You turn to John as you finish paying, take his hand, and lead him back out to the truck. You really need to grab his glasses before you do anything else. You buckle up before pulling out of the parking space.

"So. How was your meal?" You question him and mentally facepalm. Wow. So smooth, Strider.

"Dave, we ate the same thing."

"Yeah I know but did you like it or not?" You seriously want to smack yourself. When did things get so weird and awkward? Awkweird.

"I mean yeah. And besides. I'm still here which means that there wasn't any peanuts." You wonder what he could mean by that before it hits you.

"Wait. You're allergic to peanuts?" You didn't know that. Wow that could have been bad. You are really glad you didn't order anything with peanuts.

"Hm? Yeah. My throat closes up and I can't breathe. My face gets all red and puffy and my tongue swells up." You are _really_ glad you didn't order anything with peanuts. Good to know. You feel him grab your hand and weave his fingers between yours. You give him a gentle squeeze and ride in comfortable silence for the rest of the drive.

 **A/N: Yay! Cute kisses and jealousy! Hope you enjoyed! also, if you want to know what John was dreaming about, make sure to check out his POV at /u/6912488/ or just search coldgardenwhispers!**

 **Ciao For Now!**

 **~AnnieWhovian**


	10. AN: Sorry

Um, hi guys! Sorry to have to make this announcement, but me and coldgardenwhispers have decided to discontinue this story. We just ran out of time and it started to seem that writing was more of a chore than fun. School is getting busier and busier, so we do not have much time to write. I also have many Girl Scout activities, so that also lessens my time. Thank you so much for reading and all the nice comments you left us. I may be able to work on separate stories by myself, but if not, thank you for supporting what we have done.

Ciao for now,

Annie Whovian


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